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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23345404">The World Tree Rail Yard</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceAndFloral/pseuds/OnceAndFloral'>OnceAndFloral</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>cryptid hunters au [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mechanisms (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, General Unpreparedness, Mind Control, also stuff that technically isn't blood but is classified as such for tw purposes, cryptid hunters au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:00:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,275</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23345404</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceAndFloral/pseuds/OnceAndFloral</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Do you guys want the brief?” Ivy asked.</p>
<p>“Yes, Ivy, that would be wonderful,” Brian said. </p>
<p>“There have been a number of disappearances in the World Tree rail yard since it was abandoned in the sixties.” Ivy adjusted her reading glasses. “The people who have gone inside without disappearing reported seeing rainbow light, and even someone wandering around in a trance-like state.”</p>
<p>“Oo, that sounds promising!” Jonny crooned.</p>
<p>“Is it really safe to be going to a place known for serial disappearances?” Ashes called from the back.</p>
<p>He waved a hand flippantly. “It’ll be fine. There’s seven of us. If we get killed it's our own fault.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>Or: The gang hunts some cryptids</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>cryptid hunters au [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>165</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The World Tree Rail Yard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Heyyy made this au on the Mechs server and there's some references made in here but I think the only real info you need is that 1) the mechs are cryptid hunters and 2) the aurora is a cryptid herself (specifically a haunted van)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Get your hands off the wheel!” Nastya snapped, batting Jonny away as he leaned forward from the backseat. </p>
<p>“I’m just trying to change the radio!”</p>
<p>“Well, you were getting too close!”</p>
<p>“You both need to stop fighting or you’re going to force me off the road!” Brian nudged them away from each other. Jonny always started to get restless when they got closer to location, and Brian was the one to take the brunt of his actions. It was almost like Jonny wanted to get in a car crash.</p>
<p>“Do you guys want the brief?” Ivy asked.</p>
<p>“Yes, Ivy, that would be wonderful,” Brian said. Anything to prevent Nastya from throwing Jonny out the passenger window.</p>
<p>She started pulling books out of the backpack at her feet, stacking them on Jonny’s lap. He didn’t seem to appreciate it, but he also didn’t say anything against it. Ivy took out a notebook with tattered edges and flipped to one of the marked pages at the back.</p>
<p>“There have been a number of disappearances in the World Tree rail yard since it was abandoned in the sixties.” Ivy adjusted her reading glasses. “The people who have gone inside without disappearing reported seeing rainbow light, and even someone wandering around in a trance-like state.”</p>
<p>“Oo, that sounds promising!” Jonny crooned.</p>
<p>“Is it really safe to be going to a place known for serial disappearances?” Ashes called from the back.</p>
<p>He waved a hand flippantly. “It’ll be fine. There’s seven of us. If we get killed it's our own fault.”</p>
<p>“You’re so comforting, you know that? I hope to one day have you read bedtime to my several children.”</p>
<p>“And your several children will be very fucking lucky.”</p>
<p>“Jonny, <i>please.”</i> Brian sighed. “Can you at least try to be a little more positive? Inspirational, maybe?”</p>
<p>“I resent that.” He turned back to Ivy. “Does this mysterious wanderer have a name?”</p>
<p>“Nothing concrete. There's suggestions thrown around on some small message boards. The Key, Ratatosk, Ginnungagap.”</p>
<p>Tim draped himself over the backseat. “Who the hell came up with those names?”</p>
<p>“Well, Ratatosk and Ginnungagap are references to Norse Mythology, since they reside at the <i>World Tree</i> railyard. The Key is… A little bit weirder, I'll admit. The person who suggested it went on a very long rant about ‘The Gate’ and ‘thin spots in the world’. The whole thing is almost unintelligible, but it looks like other people on the board liked it.”</p>
<p>“Hm. Ginnungagap is a mouthful, but that seems like a stretch hso I vote Ginnungagap.”</p>
<p>“Well, gang, you better start getting ready and or make your peace with God because we’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Brian said.</p>
<p>Jonny scoffed. “God is going to have to make his peace with me, the selfish bastard.”</p>
<p>“Jesus Christ.”</p>
<p>“Him too.”</p><hr/>
<p>Jonny kicked a wooden board to the side. He knew the rail yard had been abandoned for sixty years, but still. It was a disaster.</p>
<p>“So are we splitting up tonight?” Tim asked, kicking the board right back at Jonny. It hit his ankle and he let out a string of curses.</p>
<p>“We’re not that stupid, Tim.” Ashes rolled their eyes. “The place is too big for us to split up safely.”</p>
<p>They all spent a good few minutes wandering around the yard to get oriented. The whole thing looked ready to fall apart, though that tended to go with the territory for abandoned locations. He swept the camera around to get some filler footage. If anything, it was a filmic location.</p>
<p>He paused for a moment. He could have sworn he just saw an on blip on the screen for just a second, a vaguely humanoid shape made of light, but when he looked up there was nothing but shadows in the distance. Jonny brushed it off. If it was anything important, they could investigate it later.</p>
<p>“Okay, the place seems pretty promising so far,” Jonny said when they stopped to rest in one of the warehouses. </p>
<p>Raphaella flipped through her notebook as Ashes started the usual checks on their equipment. “I noticed some graffiti on the walls, which I found interesting since almost everyone who has entered never left!”</p>
<p>“I can put up some more graffiti if you’d like,” Tim offered. </p>
<p>“I <i>would</i> like to see if that has any effect on Ginnungagap…”</p>
<p>“How about we save pissing off the cryptid until we’re ready to film, okay?” Ashes tossed a pack of batteries to Brian.</p>
<p>Jonny placed a hand over his chest. He had the strangest feeling, like… something was moving inside of it. The sensation got even more intense, and okay, he was starting to panic just a little bit.</p>
<p>“Hey, are you guys getting a weird feeling in your chest?” He asked. </p>
<p>“Not particularly,” Tim said. Everyone chorused in agreement with him.</p>
<p>“I’m, ah, kind of…” He swallowed hard. “Yea.”</p>
<p>“I can check you out if you want,” Marius offered. Jonny nodded, passing up on the snarky comment for fear his voice would crack if he said something. He started giving Jonny a once over. “Well, your heart is going steady.”</p>
<p>“It doesn't feel <i>right,</i> though.”</p>
<p>“I don't know what to tell you, everything seems okay.”</p>
<p>Jonny pushed him away at the same time as shoving the camera into his arms. “Fuck, I need a minute.”</p>
<p>“But we’re not supposed to split-”</p>
<p>
  <i>“I said I need a fucking minute!”</i>
</p>
<p>Jonny stormed away. He ducked behind one of the train cars and leaned up against it, one hand held to his chest. Sure, his heartbeat was there, any it was a slow pace, but it felt too strong. None of the other hunts had ever been like this before. Someone tapped on his shoulder, soft as a feather.</p>
<p>“What do you <i>want?”</i> Jonny snarled, whipping in the direction it came from. He didn’t see any of the others. Instead there was a stranger standing before him, with unkempt brown hair twisted into braids and, more unsettling, black emptiness where their eyes should be, like staring into a void.</p>
<p>Ginnungagap.</p>
<p>Jonny somehow understood that his heart was beating <i>for</i> them. They lifted a finger to their lips, slowly, <i>slowly, agonizingly slow</i> and hushed him but Jonny couldn’t find any words anyways. Ginnungagap’s fingers were caked with dust and grime. What suspiciously looked like dried blood was encrusted under their nails.</p>
<p>Their hand dropped from their lips and reached for Jonny. They intertwined their fingers with his, with the hand pressed over his heart, the one that beat because they allowed it to. Despite this very worrying situation, Jonny couldn't look anywhere except Ginnungagap’s eyes. They pulled him in like a black hole, an entirely different world just beyond a thin barrier. They squeezed his hand, and were it not for the danger he knew they posed, it would have been a comforting gesture.</p>
<p>Jonny finally found the strength to raise his voice and he screamed.</p><hr/>
<p>“Great,” Ashes sighed after Jonny stormed off. “Now what are we going to do?”</p>
<p>“Wait for him, I suppose,” Brian winced.</p>
<p>Tim snorted, settling down on the floor. “Usually it's my job to get all worked up and angry.”</p>
<p>“That's because you're bait, Tim.”</p>
<p>“That's why I said it's my job.”</p>
<p>Ivy wasn't paying attention as everyone hunkered down to wait for Jonny to come back. There was something about his freak out that bugged her, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. He had described it as a “weird feeling” but hadn't gone into much detail. Whatever it was, it scared him badly, and Ivy had seen him tackle a cryptid to the ground back in the forest of Annwn.</p>
<p>“Hey Ivy,” Raphaella called, breaking her out of her reverie. “What are you thinking about?”</p>
<p>“I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with Jonny. It seems a little short sighted to dismiss something like that when dealing with the supernatural.” She scraped her toe through the dirt. “Maybe we should go get him.”</p>
<p>“We really shouldn’t,” Marius sniffed. “He'll probably tear apart whoever goes to talk to him.”</p>
<p>He looked down at the camera in his hands. Ivy could practically see the gears turning in his head, the mental equations popping up in the air. He was overanalyzing again. Ivy was halfway tempted to snap him out of it, but someone else beat her to it as a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the warehouse, sending everyone rocketing to their feet.</p>
<p>“Where'd that come from?” Tim asked.</p>
<p>“I don't know, the echo makes it hard to tell direction!”</p>
<p>Ashes was already jumping to action and scooping up their sound equipment. “We have to split up, the place is too big to search as a group and we might not make it in time. I'll take Tim and Marius. Brian, you lead the other team.”</p>
<p>And just like that, they were off and dragging Tim and Marius along with them. Ivy looked to Brian to see what he was thinking, but she couldn’t see anything beyond his pursed lips.</p>
<p>“Come on,” He said. “I think Jonny went this way earlier.” </p>
<p>Ivy followed Raphaella and Brian. Was this related to Jonny’s freakout earlier? He’d done something similar before, had these episodes full of rage, screaming and hysterical laughter. But that didn’t sound right, because the scream had seemed scared. Did that mean it had something to do with Ginnungagap? Maybe he had found them. That didn’t sound great.</p>
<p>The three of them wove between the derelict cars. They didn’t even know the full powers and capabilities of Ginnungagap. Theoretically anything could happen. Ivy should have done more research so that she could narrow down the variables, made it so that they knew what they were up against in case something like… well, this happened.</p>
<p>Ivy tripped on some of the debris, narrowly avoiding a faceplant as Raphaella reached out and seized one of her arms.</p>
<p>“Are you okay?” She asked. </p>
<p>“I think so, I…” Oh. Ivy was not okay. All at once she was aware of the numbness in her head, like her brain was full of T.V. static. It was physical, reaching all the way down to her fingertips. Is this what Jonny had felt before? “Nevermind.”</p>
<p>“Nevermind? What‒what do you <i>mean</i> nevermind?” </p>
<p>“Hey, guys?” Brain said in an urgent tone. “I found Jonny.”</p>
<p>Ivy pulled her arm away from Raphaella before she could protest and made her way to Brian. He was kneeling down on the ground in front of Jonny, who was slumped up against one of the train cars. His eyes were wide and there was a web of black veins extending from them.</p>
<p>“What did it do to you?” Ivy asked. Jonny’s mouth opened and closed but no words came out. Maybe Ginnungagap was a voice stealer?</p>
<p>“We need to find the others and get out of here,” Brian said. “We clearly were not prepared enough for this hunt.”</p>
<p>Jonny struggled feebly as Brian tried to scoop him up. “Behind,” He rasped.</p>
<p>“Behind what?”</p>
<p>
  <i> “Behind  you.”</i>
</p>
<p>Ivy turned around. She was the only one able to catch a glimpse of the figure standing some thirteen meters away raising an arm in their direction. Ah. She understood now. It might have come to her sooner if her head wasn’t so heavy with static. Jonny wasn’t the prey.</p>
<p>He was the bait.</p><hr/>
<p>Nastya looked up from the copy of <i>The Idiot</i> she was reading to Aurora when something bright flashed from the rail yard. “Huh. I wonder what that's about.”</p>
<p>“It looks like they've found what they were looking for!” T.S. chirped. </p>
<p>“Ominous.”</p>
<p>The lilting, song-like voice of Aurora drifted through her head. <i>“Whatever they are facing is stronger than they anticipated.”</i></p>
<p>“Maybe we should go in and help them!” T.S. suggested.</p>
<p>“What could we do to help?” Nastya asked with the voice of a patient mother.</p>
<p>“I could punch it!”</p>
<p>“I don't think that would end well.”</p>
<p>“Oh! Well, it was worth a shot!” T.S. busied itself once again with its previous task of stacking Ashes’ dice. “I do hope they make it out okay!”</p>
<p>“Yes.” Nastya watched as another flash of light exploded. “Me too.”</p><hr/>
<p>“You’ve been filming this, right? You got that?” Tim asked.</p>
<p><i> “Yes,</i> I’ve been filming, I’m not an idiot!” Marius snapped.</p>
<p>“Stop arguing over the camera!” Ashes yelled. “We should be much more concerned if everyone is okay!”</p>
<p>Tim rolled his eyes. Sure, the flashes of light had been concerning, but there hadn’t been any sound. At worse, everyone was stunned and they just had to find them. They were all just fine.</p>
<p>“What’s our game plan?” Marius asked Ashes. They sighed, shifting around the audio equipment in their arms. </p>
<p>“Well, the others are probably over where the light came from, but we don’t know what it can do so heading over there right now probably isn’t all that smart.”</p>
<p>“I think that we should just go get them and get out of here as fast as we can before the thing even knows what’s happening,” Tim stated. “We tried to approach this strategically before, and look where that got us.”</p>
<p>“We can’t just go in guns blazing, Tim, we’ll just get killed!”</p>
<p>“Sitting around here is just putting everyone else at risk!”</p>
<p>“Uh, guys…?” Marius squeaked.</p>
<p>“Dying isn’t going to save them!” </p>
<p>“Guys!” Marius shouted. Tim and Ashes glared at them. “We have some company with us.”</p>
<p>Tim followed where Marius was pointing and saw an unfamiliar face. By process of elimination, he knew this was Ginnungagap, but it really helped narrow it down even further when a tentacle whipped out from behind them, grabbed Ashes and threw them into the darkness.</p>
<p>Yup. That was a whole cryptid right there. </p>
<p>“I told you,” Tim singsonged quietly. </p>
<p>“Just… don’t move.” Marius held up his hands as if Ginnungagap was a skittish deer and not something that had possibly snapped their friend’s spine. </p>
<p>“What does it fucking look like I’m doing?” Tim said softly.</p>
<p>Ginnungagap stepped nearer to Tim and his breath caught uncomfortably. Don’t move, don’t move even as their head tilted curiously to the side. Fuck, they were getting really close.</p>
<p>“I’d really appreciate it if you did something,” Tim forced himself to smile. He had to appear as non-threatening as he could. </p>
<p>“What do you want me to do?” Marius sounded just as sickeningly sweet as he did. “I can’t exactly attack it.” Ginnungagap’s attention was briefly torn from Tim to Marius at the word “attack.” Marius grinned nervously. “I would <i>never</i> do that. That would be an incredibly rude thing to do, Tim. I can’t believe you’d even imply that.”</p>
<p>They turned back to Tim. Jesus Christ, why were they taking such an interest in him? Tim knew his unofficial title of the group was bait but this was ridiculous. They tucked a lock of hair that had fallen into his face behind his ear, an action entirely too tender for a malevolent entity.</p>
<p>“What are they doing?” Marius whispered.</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” He chuckled, resolving to maintain eye contact with Ginnungagap instead of glaring at Marius. They were studying him very intently, and not that it had ever been comforting before, but it was really starting to creep him out.</p>
<p>“Marius.” Tim hummed. “Run.”</p>
<p>He surged forward, grabbed Ginnungagap’s wrists and pinned them to the wall. Their eyes subtly widened, the only sign that they were surprised by it at all. Hopefully Marius had run like he said to, the blood roaring in his ears was too loud for him to really tell.</p>
<p>“What do you want?” He snarled. “Why didn’t you attack me?”</p>
<p>Ginnungagap didn’t reply, at least not with words. Their features were still set in a neutral expression, but even then Tim could tell there was something like fascination in there. It was mostly how their head was still tipped to the side in that puzzled, intrigued way. They were looking for something about him, why they were drawn so close.</p>
<p>Wait, how did Tim know that?</p>
<p>They were in his head. He gasped and drew his hands back, recoiling from them. Ginnungagap just watched as the back of his foot hit one of the unused tracks and he fell back. Tim looked so scared from this angle, looking down. <i>Fuck,</i> that was their thoughts again. It was disorienting to suddenly have to parse his own consciousness from someone else’s.</p>
<p>He had to stay here. No. Yes. Jesus <i>fucking</i> Christ, this was unbearable. Tim sat there paralyzed as they walked away, leaving him behind. He couldn’t move when his own mind wouldn’t let him. Pressure was growing inside his head like a balloon. His fingers curled around a discarded strip of metal, eyes locked on the back of Ginnungagap’s head. If he could just throw it, maybe he could knock them out and save the others. </p>
<p>The pressure swelled to an apex and just… popped.</p><hr/>
<p>Regrets. Ashes had regrets. Right now they took on the form of a train car hurtling right for their face. It was symbolic, really. The train symbolized death and how Ashes was about to be dead. </p>
<p>One of their other regrets was not paying more attention in lit class.</p>
<p>They dropped to the ground and covered their head, the car sailing over just a few feet above. Ashes looked back up and Ginnungagap was standing right where it had come flying from. What was with this thing and throwing stuff? Had throwing Ashes themself not been enough? Their shoulder was still fucked up from crash landing, and Marius was nowhere to be found. </p>
<p>Ashes picked up a rock and chucked it at Ginnungagap. They flicked their wrist and it burst apart in a shower of multicolored sparks. Ashes used the brief distraction to duck around the corner. They weren’t planning on hitting him anyways, their dominant shoulder was the one that was injured. This was the best they could do for now.</p>
<p>They ran into something as they turned another corner. Or rather, someone.</p>
<p>“Raph?” Ashes hissed.</p>
<p>“Ashes?” Raphaella smiled in relief. “Thank god you’re okay.”</p>
<p>“What happened to you guys?”</p>
<p>“It’s… it’s really confusing. We found Jonny, but Ginnungagap was waiting for us, and Brian flashed it with his torch and they, um, well, it was just so bright I don’t know exactly what they did but when I could see clearly again everyone else was gone. Where’s Tim and Marius?”</p>
<p>Ashes winced. “I got thrown like a fucking baseball and I lost them.”</p>
<p>Raph nodded at their arm. “Is that why you’re holding that so weird?”</p>
<p>“Yea?”</p>
<p>She leaned over and tore a few inches of hem off her skirt off in one fluid motion. “This isn’t the best, but Marius has the slings so it’ll have to work for now,” She said as she tied the two ends together behind Ashes’ neck.</p>
<p>“Thanks, Raph.” The sound of soft footsteps pricked Ashes’ ears. “Shit, come on.”</p>
<p>They grabbed her hand with their uninjured one and pulled her along. Strategy possibilities: </p>
<p>A)They could run back outside to where Nastya and T.S. waited with the Aurora, go back to town and maybe get more people to come back and help. Downsides included that everyone might be dead by the time they came back.</p>
<p>B) They could weave around this too fucking huge warehouse, hopefully find everyone and get out. This plan, however, relied on the fact that they wouldn’t reincounter Ginnungagap in this journey, which seemed pretty unlikely especially because it seemed like they had some sort of teleportation or fast travel, and <i>definitely</i> knew the layout of this place better. Getting cornered by them didn’t seem fun.</p>
<p>C) Ashes and Raph could lead Ginnungagap on a wild goose chase to give the others time to escape. This held some degree of promise, but had some unreliable variables. Ashes didn’t know if Jonny, Brian and Ivy were even conscious like Raph, and they also had no idea what happened with Marius and Tim. Those two could be anywhere between on their way out and dead.</p>
<p>D) Burn the place to the ground. There were some clear logical errors with this, including but not limited to literally everyone’s safety including their own, but it was still tempting. </p>
<p>“Shit,” They cursed, climbing into one of the train cars and kneeling down under the windows.</p>
<p>“What do we do?” Raphaella whispered.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure. Any idea I come up with seems really shitty.”</p>
<p>“Yea, me too.” She paused. “I feel really bad just hiding here though.”</p>
<p>“It’s not really my ideal call either but everything else seems to result in our death.” </p>
<p>“You’re right, but I hate it.”</p>
<p>Ashes sighed and rested their head against the wall. The best they could do right now was sit here and try to think of a better plan than everything they had come up with. All their other ones for the night had already failed, and this could not happen again.</p><hr/>
<p>There was something up with Ginnungagap. Marius could tell by the way they had looked at Tim. There was <i>something</i> fueling it other than mindless destruction. He couldn’t tell what specifically, but he was going to find out. That is, if getting close to them wasn’t a death wish.</p>
<p>Ashes was very possibly dead, and he had no idea about Brian’s group. Marius could be the last one alive for all he knew, what with Tim’s ballsy gamble with Ginnungagap earlier. All Marius had was a backpack full of first aid materials, a cut across his forearm that might lead to tetanus, and Jonny’s stupid camera. </p>
<p>He went a couple of minutes where he didn’t cross paths with Ginnungagap again, but he also didn’t meet up with anyone else. This place was like a run down maze. They were so fucking dumb to come here at night. </p>
<p>Marius’ relative safety didn’t last forever though. He rounded a corner and there Ginnungagap was, like they had been waiting there for him the whole time. He broke off running in the opposite direction, but a fat lot of good that did when he tripped. </p>
<p>Ginnungagap grew closer as he coughed and gasped to recover the oxygen he’d knocked out of his lungs. It was like they were all cursed or something, and now it was finally going to do him in. It wasn’t the hoard of flesh eating zombies, huh? It was just some random person wandering around like they were on a nice midnight stroll to pick up some bread and commit mass murder.</p>
<p>They put a foot on his shoulder and pushed him back to the ground, then kneeled down to straddle him. Marius let out a choked gasp as their hands locked around his neck. </p>
<p>“H-Hey,” He stammered. “You don’t want to do this.” The grip around his neck tightened. “Ah! I know that you don’t‒you don’t know what you’re doing right now.”</p>
<p>At least he hoped so. This was very much a last ditch effort. Though, maybe this was hopeless. Maybe Marius should be saving his breath so that maybe one of the others could show up and save him. </p>
<p>Well, Marius had always been a self-sacrificing bastard.</p>
<p>“You’ve been here by yourself for a long time, haven’t you? You just don’t know how to talk to people, th‒that’s all.”</p>
<p>“Y‒Yes.” Their voice sounded like it had gone unused for centuries, rasping and dusty as an old book. There was something desperate about their tone, as though they were fighting against someone to get the words out. Still, their hands stayed locked around his neck. </p>
<p>“If you let me go, I can just leave. I don’t have to bother you again.”</p>
<p>“Leave.” Their expression finally shifted from neutral to a frown. <i>“Leave.”</i></p>
<p>“I’d love to,” Marius joked.</p>
<p>They leaned forward, putting more weight on his throat and cutting off the little air he’d had. Fuck, fuck, fuck, don’t joke around with the cryptid! “Don’t.” </p>
<p>“Don’t… what…?” His vision was going fuzzy at the edges.</p>
<p>“Don’t le‒lea-” They let out a strangled cry. “Don’t <i>leave</i> me.”</p>
<p><i>Clang!</i> All the pressure on Marius’ throat vanished and the cryptid was no longer on top of him. Instead Tim was looking down, a long and rusted strip of metal dripping with strange prismatic liquid in one hand. He grabbed Marius and hauled him to his feet.</p>
<p>“Come on!” Tim shouted.</p>
<p>“No, Tim, wait-!” Too late. Tim was dragging Marius out and holy shit had he always been this strong? He dug in his heels and pulled. However strong Tim was, he did not account for Marius’ shirt literally slipping out of his fingers and Marius was sent stumbling back.</p>
<p>“What are you <i>doing?”</i> Tim seethed. “We have to get out of here!”</p>
<p>“They need help!” Marius waved an arm to where Ginnungagap lay in a crumpled heap, rainbow liquid pooling around them. Okay, so that was probably their equivalent of blood.</p>
<p>“Help? We're kind of struggling to help ourselves here, Marius!”</p>
<p>“There’s still a person in there! Maybe that’s why they were all weird with you earlier!”</p>
<p>“They’re insane, that’s why they were all weird! They just left me on the ground, which I really bet they’re regretting right about now.”</p>
<p>Marius tried to take a step towards Tim, but he realized he couldn’t move his feet. He looked down and he was brought back down to earth at a dizzying speed. That resplendent blood covered the ground, way too much to be held within one person let alone for one to lose. It was running up his legs, as if gravity had reversed on it. </p>
<p>“Shit.” It sounded like Tim had noticed it too. “This really seems like what a fellow person would do.”</p>
<p>“Shut up, Tim.” He watched Ginnungagap sit up on their knees in all the blood, clutching their face and rocking back and forth. More blood dripped down from the gaps in their fingers. Things were really starting to go south.</p><hr/>
<p>Brian now knew first hand how much blood loss sucked. The gash in his thigh had been tied up long enough ago that he didn’t have to worry about dying or anything, but now he felt lightheaded and these pants were ruined. It didn’t help that he had one of Jonny’s arms slung over his shoulders as he trekked forward. Carrying around a whole person was not quickening his recovery time. </p>
<p>“How did this all happen so quickly?” Jonny mumbled.</p>
<p>“Oh, you know.” Brian shifted around his weight to a more comfortable position. “Splitting up. A general lack of understanding what we were up against.”</p>
<p>He snorted. “That about cover it?”</p>
<p>Brian was about to respond when he noticed something shining a few rows over. It wasn’t like the flashes that had sent him and Jonny to some random corner of the warehouse, it was softer and consistent, almost like the northern lights. He lowered Jonny to the ground, propping him up.</p>
<p>“What the hell are you doing?” Jonny coughed. </p>
<p>“I’m going to go check that out.”</p>
<p>“You‒ Why the hell would you do that? That’s clearly where the thing is.”</p>
<p>“And it’s probably where the others are too. It’s fine, I’ll just leave you here.”</p>
<p>“That’s not fair, Brian, I can’t walk right now!” Instead of getting into an argument with Jonny, he started in the direction of the light. “Brian! Get back here! You’re going to get yourself <i>killed!</i> This isn’t fair, this isn’t fucking fair!”</p>
<p>He ignored him, weaving closer and closer. He didn’t know what he expected to find, but it wasn’t Tim and Marius just standing around in a pond of rainbow fluid while Ginnungagap was practically doubled over next to them.</p>
<p>“Brian!” Marius cheered. </p>
<p>“Don’t touch this stuff!” Tim warned. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s making it so we can’t move.”</p>
<p>“Good to know…” Brian eyed the edge of the pool creeping closer to his feet and inched back.</p>
<p>Ashes and Raphaella ran up to the other side of it from behind one of the cars. “Guys!” Raphaella waved wildly.</p>
<p>“It’s so great that you guys decided to show up when we're in mortal peril!” Tim grumbled. “Where the hell have you been?”</p>
<p>“We’ve been hiding,” Ashes answered. “We came over when we saw the light.”</p>
<p>“I’ve been dragging Jonny around. He’s close, I left him because he can’t walk right now.”</p>
<p>“This reunion is really touching but can we take care of the eldritch problem at hand?” Marius gestured to Ginnungagap, who had not stopped rocking through the entire conversation.</p>
<p>“And how do you propose we do that?” Ashes asked. </p>
<p>Marius and Tim shared a look with each other that gave Brian the feeling they were disagreeing on something, but Marius continued. “I think that they’re sentient still. I broke through for just a second earlier, but I’m sure that we can get them out!”</p>
<p>“You’re sure?” Raphaella prodded.</p>
<p>“... Like ninety nine percent. I’m not Ivy!”</p>
<p>Brian studied Ginnungagap at the center of their protective pond. Curled up like this, they looked a lot more human than they had earlier when they nearly tore Brian’s leg off. He didn’t know what exactly was going on with them, but…</p>
<p>“Okay.” Brian stripped off his jacket.</p>
<p><i>“Okay?”</i> Tim stared at him. “Brian, they could hurt you and‒”</p>
<p>“I mean it’s worth a shot, right? Otherwise you two are kind of stuck here like flies in a web, and the best case scenario there is that is starvation.” If his estimation of the distance and his own athletic ability was correct, he could throw his jacket in and jump on that before it was soaked through to get close enough to Ginnungagap. “I think I’m gonna jump for it.”</p>
<p>Everyone else erupted into angered chatter. </p>
<p>“You’re just going to get stuck too!” Ashes yelled. </p>
<p>“Do you have any better ideas?!”</p>
<p>“Yea, dipshit, grab one of the boards!”</p>
<p>Brian looked to his left and lo and behold, there were some discarded planks of wood. Oh. Yes, that was a much smarter idea. He picked one up and laid it in the liquid. It got him a considerable distance closer. </p>
<p>“Don’t fall,” Marius fretted as he took his first step onto the board.</p>
<p>“Don’t put that thought into my head.” How come balancing was always so much more difficult when you actually <i>had</i> to do it? When he reached the end of the board he took a deep breath, braced himself, and jumped.</p>
<p>He landed on one knee right in front of Ginnungagap, a prismatic spray fanning up around him. Marius’ idea better work, or they were all going to be stuck.</p>
<p>“Hey there, Gin‒ buddy?” He realized he didn’t know what it wanted to be called. “I’m Brian.”</p>
<p>They made a noise that sounded more like radio interference than something that a human would make. A wave of fear washed over Brian, but he didn’t let it paralyze him because he knew it wasn’t his.</p>
<p>“I know you’re scared right now.” He wrapped his fingers around their wrists. “And that you’re trying to make it so that I think it’s me.”</p>
<p>Ginnungagap shook their head, fingers curling as they dug their nails into their skin. Brian gently tugged their hands away and‒</p>
<p>He sucked in a sharp breath. Their eyes were no longer black voids. Instead they were covered by a complex lace of rainbow material. The void wasn’t completely gone, however, merely relegated to the veins at the edges.</p>
<p>“It hurts,” They whined.</p>
<p>“Oh, yea, I know.” Against his better judgement, he hugged them. It was a strange sensation to be in so much contact with them, almost like burning or melting, but he struggled through it. </p>
<p>“I’m not <i>me.”</i></p>
<p>“Something else has been making you do this, I know you can take back control.”</p>
<p>“No, no, no.” They started to pull against him and he could almost feel them grow colder in his arms.</p>
<p>“Hey, stay with me.” Brian kept a firm grip around them. “What’s your name?”</p>
<p>“I don’t. Know.”</p>
<p>“Come on, you can do it.”</p>
<p>They made a sound of genuine pain, like there was a knife being twisted in their stomach. “L‒Lyf‒Lyfrassir.”</p>
<p>Brian was starting to shake. Being in close contact with Lyfrassir did not seem like it was something a human body was supposed to be able to handle, or at least when they were in this state. And knowing that the fear he felt was caused by them didn’t lessen any of the effects. He could see Ashes and Raph backing away as the pool continued to spread across the floor.</p>
<p>“You don’t want to hurt any of us, do you?” Brian consoled. He felt them shake their head. “You are stronger than whatever it is inside your head. You don’t have to do what it wants.”</p>
<p>“Don’t leave, please don’t leave.”</p>
<p>“I won’t,” He assured them.</p>
<p>With his arms wrapped around them, Brian felt all of the tension in Lyfrassir vanish, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He heard something splashing, and suddenly Tim and Marius were next to him and lifting him up to his feet. It worked.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Lyfrassir sobbed. They didn’t sound quite as strained as though there had been something holding them back just moments before. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know‒”</p>
<p>“It’s okay,” Brian said. He started to let them go, but they nearly fell back down to the ground. “Shit, Tim can you carry them? My leg is hurt.”</p>
<p>“Carry them?” Tim frowned.</p>
<p>“We can’t just leave them here, they’re clearly…” He grimaced. “They need some help.”</p>
<p>Tim huffed, going through all five stages of grief in less than a second. “Alright, help me get them on my back.”</p>
<p>They waded out of the quickly shrinking pool of liquid to meet Ashes and Raphaella on the other side. Raphaella flitted around Tim like a hummingbird, trying to get a look at Lyfrassir from all angles. No doubt that when they got back to the van she would be conducting all sorts of studies.</p>
<p>“Alright,” Brian said. “Let’s get Jonny, find Ivy and get out of here.”</p>
<p>“That sounds like a great idea to me,” Marius smiled weakly.</p>
<p>Ashes tugged at the crook of his elbow as the others started to leave. “Brian, I just wanted to say that back there I think that… I mean it looked like you were…”</p>
<p>“What?” He probed.</p>
<p>They shook their head. “Nevermind. I think I was seeing things.”</p>
<p>“Well, okay then?” Honestly, Brian was too exhausted to try and badger them about it right now. After what they’d already been through tonight, it probably wasn’t all that important anyways.</p><hr/>
<p>Coming out of the television static that had filled Ivy’s head was… a process. She barely remembered bits and pieces of wandering around the warehouse, one image of Ginnungagap with their hand wrapped around her wrist. When it finally did clear, she found Jonny sitting on the ground and cursing up a storm.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong?” She asked.</p>
<p>He flinched. “Jesus, Ivy! Where the hell did you come from?”</p>
<p>“Over there, I think. What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“Brian is being a self sacrificing bitch, and he’s probably dead but I have to kill him for leaving me.”</p>
<p>“Ah.” Ivy sat down next to him. “Where’s Ginnungagap?”</p>
<p>“Probably over there, somewhere.” Jonny halfheartedly waved a hand in the direction of the southeast corner. “I think they’re dead, and I might be joining them. You can try and escape if you’d like.”</p>
<p>“I can try and carry you out,” Ivy offered.</p>
<p>“No offense but the heaviest thing I’ve seen you carry is an encyclopedia.”</p>
<p>“No offense but I remember someone having to drag your unconscious body through the forest after you picked a fight with knife wielding zombies.”</p>
<p>Jonny glared at her. “Fine. Carry me. I don’t give a shit anymore. If you break your ankle doing it you can’t blame me when the eldritch monster eats your remains.”</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes, slung one of his arms over her shoulders and hefted him up in a fireman carry. Judging by the indignant noise he made, he didn’t appreciate it.</p>
<p>“This is undignified,” He complained.</p>
<p>“You lost your dignity a long time ago.” </p>
<p>Surprisingly it only took a few minutes of wandering around before they found the others. Tim, carrying a person of his own, lit up when he saw Jonny draped around Ivy’s shoulders like an angry scarf.</p>
<p>“I see you took care of it,” Ivy nodded at Ginnungagap, who currently had their face hidden away in the bend of Tim’s neck. </p>
<p>“Yes, I think we may have added someone to the team,” Brian shrugged. “Temporarily, at least. Meet Lyfrassir, by the way.”</p>
<p>“So, what, me and Ivy missed all the exciting parts?” Jonny asked, craning his neck to be able to see them.</p>
<p>“The exciting parts were us nearly dying,” Marius said. “I think you’re kind of lucky.”</p>
<p>“Whatever. Can we just get out of here so I don’t have to be in this position any longer?”</p>
<p>“Seconded,” Ashes piped up. </p>
<p>Ivy kept an eye on <i>Lyfrassir</i> as they all made their way back outside. They were completely unresponsive to the chatter going on around them. The only reason she even knew they were conscious was because when she walked next to Tim for a while, they lifted their head and made eye contact with her for an instant before ducking back down. The Key suddenly seemed like a very fitting name. She had the nagging feeling that they were about to unlock a whole new world for her and her friends.</p>
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